Racket Flex: As a general rule the flex of the racket's shaft is matched to the speed of the players swing. The faster the swing, the stiffer the shaft tends to be. The more easy power you're looking for the more flexible the shaft tends to be. They are however renegade rackets out there such as the Yonex Z Slash that bend this rule. Click for more info...

NOT SURE [SKIP THIS STEP]

RACKET PREFERENCES: Drag slider to select balance

HEAD LIGHT EVEN HEAD HEAVY

Racket Balance: Head light rackets have their weight towards the handle and feel handier to use. Head heavy rackets such as Armortec, provide high power with a head heavy feel because of the weight insert at the top of the racket head. If you're not sure you can select "skip this step" or Click for more info...

Welcome to the Which Racket tool from badminton leader Direct Sports. This useful interactive tool is crammed with accurate data on hundreds of badminton rackets to help you quickly and easy make the right racket choice. Providing clear, accurate and unbiased details of all top brand badminton rackets all tested in the same uniform way. The rackets in this tool are all graphite construction and have been tested as you would play with them, strung and with the standard grip. Giving like for like comparison across all brands instead of relying on individual brand specifications that don't allow easy cross brand comparisons due to the way their racket testing differs from one another.

One manufacturer’s idea of a flexible shaft would be another's medium flex or even classed as stiff. Some manufacturers balance and weigh the rackets without strings or grips and others do not. Having meticulously analysed all the rackets in the tool's database this is a great way to quickly and easily narrow down your search for the most suitable rackets.

It's not just getting accurate specs on these rackets where we aim to help but also to narrow your search. As the UK's largest badminton racket retailer Direct Sports not only sell more badminton rackets than anyone else but we also have the largest racket range and by far the largest racket stocks. Choice is great but brings it's own problem, what to choose? Hopefully this is where our innovative Which Racket tool will help narrow your search to a handful of suitable rackets.

In fact it's so quick, easy and accurate to use, that despite our strong badminton knowledge we too now use this tool for both shop and telephone customers to quickly locate the most suitable rackets.
If there's any extra features or tweaks you would like to see please let us know at enquiries@directsports-eshop.com and we'll happily consider all suggestions.

Getting the right racket flex can pay dividends. If you're not sure we'd advise that you go for a medium range flex racket. Juniors often benefit from more flexible rackets that help give power from slower or less technically developed styles. As a rule of thumb the faster the racket head speed the more the shaft will flex and so to prevent the shaft from flexing too much a stiffer designed frame may be used although playing styles also play a part in this choice. Matching the flex with racket head speed provides the maximum snap effect when the racket head contacts the shuttlecock.

As mentioned above this is the basic idea but it's not quite as simple as matching to the player's racket swing speed. Rackets such as the head heavy Yonex Armortec's, particularly the 900 Power, cause the shaft to flex more due to the extra weight in the racket head. This means that the manufacturer needs to compensate by increasing the stiffness of the racket. Conversely the Yonex Arcsaber Z Slash's smaller head-size with its lightweight aerodynamic construction places less load on the shaft than a conventional racket. Even though the Z Slash is fairly flexible to test - it doesn't feel it in play due to the racket head design.

Racket balance is a personal preference so there's no right-choice, wrong-choice here. Head light rackets tend to feel handier and manoeuvrable, ideal for fast doubles or defensive play where quick reactions are needed. Not always the easiest rackets however to extract power from. Head heavy rackets generate bags of power and are popular for singles players and those double players amongst us who are allergic to the net!

Whilst some players find wielding these head heavy rackets around in tight net play a bind, others have no issue. One popular technique used to overcome this is to hold the racket higher up the handle to effectively shorten it during net and fast mid-court hitting and return to normal position for blasting the shuttlecock when around the rear court.

Once again a personal preference and if you're not too sure, hedge your bets and go for a more even balanced frame.